http://gapingvoid.com/2005/04/28/middleware-cont/ "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards" Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:55:13 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 http://gapingvoid.com/2005/04/28/middleware-cont/comment-page-1/#comment-5537 Ric Fri, 29 Apr 2005 19:33:35 +0000 http://gapingvoid.com/?p=1429#comment-5537 john: Skunkworks won't get you into the mainstream, but is that where you want to be? That's where you are fighting against commodity software, entrenched (and ossified) management, and zero smart conversations. Informal networks, both inside and outside the organisation, are already where most of the 'good' (sorry - value judgement there) work gets done even now, and 'mainstream' software, just like mainstream management, is about doing the same things with consistency, efficiency and repeatability. Now for SOME stuff in the business, that's exactly what you need (nobody wants the payroll system to work like a lottery!) - but growth and innovation and retention of the smart people is going to need something a little more adventurous than that. I've started thinking about some of this (I'm a software manager caught between a rock (ERP implementation) and a hard place (the "orchestration" somebody mentioned in a comment on the previous post)) - <a href="http://aqualung.typepad.com/aqualung/2005/04/to_dev_or_not_t.html" rel="nofollow"><a href="http://aqualung.typepad.com/aqualung/2005/04/to_dev_or_not_t.html" rel="nofollow">http://aqualung.typepad.com/aqualung/2005/04/to_dev_or_not_t.html</a></a> and I want to think a lot more about it, because I can see my own job disappearing into the gap between my personal philosophy of how software supports a business and how the business is implementing software. john: Skunkworks won’t get you into the mainstream, but is that where you want to be? That’s where you are fighting against commodity software, entrenched (and ossified) management, and zero smart conversations. Informal networks, both inside and outside the organisation, are already where most of the ‘good’ (sorry — value judgement there) work gets done even now, and ‘mainstream’ software, just like mainstream management, is about doing the same things with consistency, efficiency and repeatability. Now for SOME stuff in the business, that’s exactly what you need (nobody wants the payroll system to work like a lottery!) — but growth and innovation and retention of the smart people is going to need something a little more adventurous than that. I’ve started thinking about some of this (I’m a software manager caught between a rock (ERP implementation) and a hard place (the “orchestration” somebody mentioned in a comment on the previous post)) — http://aqualung.typepad.com/aqualung/2005/04/to_dev_or_not_t.html
and I want to think a lot more about it, because I can see my own job disappearing into the gap between my personal philosophy of how software supports a business and how the business is implementing software.

]]> http://gapingvoid.com/2005/04/28/middleware-cont/comment-page-1/#comment-5536 john Allsopp Fri, 29 Apr 2005 04:48:32 +0000 http://gapingvoid.com/?p=1429#comment-5536 Geoffrey Moores technology marketing classic "crossing the chasm" addresses this very well. As far as I know, the original Skunkworks developed military aircraft. Did any commercial aircraft come from that? Perhaps indirectly. I mention this because the military are in a sense your classic "early adopter" who are willing to make technology work at just about any cost to get a competitive advantage. Geez they are willing to make hammers and toilets work at just about any cost :-) A skunkworks approach will definitely get you started, but it won't get you into the mainstream market. For that you need to develop a "whole product". Anyway, for those with technoogy product's, Moores books really are a must read. Geoffrey Moores technology marketing classic “crossing the chasm” addresses this very well. As far as I know, the original Skunkworks developed military aircraft. Did any commercial aircraft come from that? Perhaps indirectly. I mention this because the military are in a sense your classic “early adopter” who are willing to make technology work at just about any cost to get a competitive advantage. Geez they are willing to make hammers and toilets work at just about any cost
A skunkworks approach will definitely get you started, but it won’t get you into the mainstream market. For that you need to develop a “whole product”.
Anyway, for those with technoogy product’s, Moores books really are a must read.

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